it was indeed a tragic day for pak. we lost our best pilot and one of the best air craft of our fleet both of which we cant replace. since march the whole nation is getting tragic news almost on daily basis. F-16 crash, PIA crash, corona taking lives daily , economy going down, frustration and stress in the whole nation is going high.
but there are some lessons which PAF should have learnt from the F-16 crash.
1.dont use your best air craft which you cant even replace for showboating. PAF now has only 62 BVR capable F-16s and around 120 JFTs. that makes around 180 BVR capable air crafts. JFTs we can replace but this is not the case with the F-16. the falcon is the only air craft today in PAF that poses serious challenge to the enemy. only block 3 JFT may be at par with the falcon which we dont have yet. if at all PAF had to use falcon for air show they could have used BVR less F-16 ADF for this purpose. why the BVR capable jet for air show????use thunders, K8s and F-16 ADF. huge mistake on part of PAF.
2. dont do air shows over cities. that air craft could have crashed over houses like the PIA crash or the army aviation air craft crash last year in which 17 people lost their lives. the air shows must be carried out over sea in karachi.
3.PAF needs to reduce the showboating. we are a poor nation and cant afford losing expensive jets in air shows. over the past few years PAF has increased the frequency of air shows . 23rd march, 6 sep, 27 feb and sometimes on 14 august plus two aerobatics show every year in risalpur.
PAF has a history of learning the lessons the hard way. they built wall around sargodha air base after losing F-16 to a wildboar in the 80s. inducted and trained ground combaters for CT after losing air crafts worth millions of dollars at kamra and faisal. lets see whether they will learn their lessons this time or not but they should. there is always very thin line between bravery and foolishness , cowardice and cleverness. as a nation with very little resources we need to be brave and clever. cant afford losing air crafts and pilots in air shows.
